Letters

I’m voting for Donald Trump. And here’s why.
First, I despise his vulgar mouth. And how he acts right stupid when he is angry. And I could go on and on with his shortcomings.
But I don’t despise him nearly as much as I do the Washington crowd. The Romneys, the McConnells, the Grahams, the Reids, the Obamas, the Clintons. The whole stinking bunch.

This letter is in dedication and memory of victims of violent crimes that continue to plague our society to no end.
From the growing number of police officers killed in the line of duty, a 13-year-old killed for the thrill of it, children beaten and tortured to death, to families wiped out because of a black sheep member who lost their way in life.
Not to forget domestic violence, where the numbers of victims are rising.
Our nation seems to be numb to all of this. Politicians are AWOL. They are too busy fattening their own nest.

I urge citizens of Southwest Virginia to vote for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary on March 1, no matter which party you normally support.
Remember, you are free to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary.
Many people in our area support Donald Trump, but Trump, unlike Bernie, has not proposed any policies that would actually help citizens of Grayson County. Instead, his campaign is based on fear and hatred, values that Christians should reject.

It seems that drug dealing and drug use among our young people in this area is totally out of control.
Law enforcement is too worried about someone going a few miles over the speed limit. I counted 15 methamphetamine cases in the paper the other day. Is it me or is something wrong with this picture?
Our young people are getting hooked on drugs while they just keep pouring into the area.
If I were a police officer, if I had to lay out in mud and rain to catch these parasites, I would.

For 225 years, “majority rule” was a bedrock principle of our republic.
In 2014, our Republican senators in Congress, through unprecedented use of the filibuster, ended “majority rule” and paralyzed our Republic! In doing so our Republicans blocked the will of “we the people.” That was revolutionary!
Majorities of Democrat, independent and Republican voters wanted the following ideas or bills to become law:
1: 73 percent of us wanted equal pay for equal work.
2. 87 percent called for immigration reform.

The main reason given in support of Donald Trump, at least by those I’ve talked to, is that he’s strong and angry enough to do the things that need done.
We certainly need a strong president, but does Trump really fit that description?
Trump certainly isn’t afraid to say hard and often inflammatory things about those on both sides of the political spectrum. He is obviously very angry. The question is, does anger equal strength?
Think about what happens when people get angry. Things get broken —possessions, people and relationships.

After reading the front page article about “bothersome buzzards” and [Sen. Bill] Carrico’s bill to allow shooting the black vulture, I did some research that confirmed this species is different than the turkey vulture (AKA turkey buzzard) in more than physical appearance.

The residents and staff of Golden Living Center-Blue Ridge would like to thank friends in the Twin Counties who helped make the Christmas season a little brighter.
Numerous churches, schools, volunteers, Girl Scouts and family members all donated time and talents.
Beautiful gift boxes were donated so that each resident would receive a present on Christmas day delivered by Santa himself.
Several local churches provided musical talents throughout the month to ensure that everyone had a merry Christmas.

In mid-December the telephone rang and I found myself patched into a phone town hall conducted by Rep. Morgan Griffith.
Many of the callers were living on an economic precipice, struggling to get by on Social Security, veterans’ benefits, or other form of assistance.
They wanted to convey to the congressman the difficulties they were experiencing and in some cases, solicit his help. Social Security is not giving beneficiaries a cost of living increase (COLA) in 2016, and this was a concern.